Percentage feeder and mixer



. July 24, 1923.

A. D. M LELLAN PERCENTAGE FEEDER AND MIXER Filed April 5. 1922 2 Sheets-Shoot 1 W K a 7 ,7

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Patented any 2e, ieaa;

- UNHTED STATES Menage ABYGUS ID). MACLELW, F OWENSBURO, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR T0 ETLAQLELLAN comm, 0F UWIENSBOEO, KENTUCKY, A CORPORATION OF-IKENT'UGKY.

PERCENTAGE FEEDER AND MIXER.

' Application filed April 5,

To all'wlwm it may concern:

Be it hown that I, ANGUS D. 'MACLEL- LAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Owensboro, in the county of Daviess and State of Kentucky, new and useful Improvements in Percentage Feeders and Mixers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention provides an extremely simple, compact and highly eflicient self-contained percentage feeder adapted, for example, to feed and commingle in predetermined desired proportions diflerent kinds of flour for producing blended flour, or diflerent kinds of granular, grounded or other materials for producing stock foods. Such percentage feeders are, of course, adapted for more generalfuse.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the preferred form of thopercentage feeder, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view-showing the improved feeder;

Fig. .2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the' feeder with the several supply hoppers thereof removed; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4-4: of Fig. 3, some parts being broken away.

The numeral 5 indicates a faceplate or table top supported by a suitable leg structure 6 and provided with an upstanding cylindrical rim 7, which, as shown, is cut away or formed with large openings 7 at four points on the quadrants of a circle. Below the openings 7*, the face place 5 is provided with flat outward extensions 5 that have upstanding laterally spaced flanges 5 Supply hoppers 8 are secured to the flanges 5 and are provided with discharge. openings aligned with the passages 7 a and adapted to be opened and closed to any desired extent by vertically movable discharge gates 9. These discharge gates 9, as shown, are pro vided with rack teeth engaged by pinions 10 on gate-actuatingshafts 11 journaled in the inner ends of the flanges 5" and provided with hand, wheels 12. Also, as shown, the

outer oblique walls of the hoppers 8, at their have invented certain.

1922. Serial No. 549,933.

lower extremities, areprovided with normally closed gates 13, which, when opened, afford access to the interiorof the hoppers.

Adjacent to the cylindrical flange 7, the face plate 5 is provided circumferentially between the passages 7 with quite large discharge ports 14. At its center, the face plate 5 has a bearing hub 15, in which is journaled a short vertical shaft 16 provided at its lower end with a bevel gear 17 that meshes with a bevel pinion 18 carried by a countershaft 19 journaled in suitable bearings 20 shown as secured to the bottom of the face plate and to the leg structure.

Secured to the upper end of the shaft 16 and arranged to rotate in a horizontal plane over the upper surface of the face plate 5 is a large feed wheel 21 that is formed with peripheral feed pockets or cups 22 that preferably incline backward slightly in respect to the direction of rotation of said wheel, the said direction of rotation being in the direction of the arrow marked on Fig. 3.

Supported by the leg structure 6, below and parallel to the shaft 19, is a mixing trough 23 open at one end for discharge. The numeral 25 indicates deflecting curtains attached to the upper edges of the trough 23 and normally attached at their upper edges to the bottom of the face plate 5. These curtains direct into the trough all of the several materials dropped through the feed ports 14. as will presently appear. Working in the trough 23 is a spiral conveyer 26, the shaft 26* of which is journaled in the closed end of the trough 23 and a fixed bearing 27 supported from the leg structure at the open end of the trough. At its extended end, the shaft 26 is provided with ,a sprocket 28 and a pulley 29, over which latter runs 'a power-driven belt 30. A

sprocket chain 31 runs over the sprocket 28 and over a sprocket 32 on one end of the shaft 19.

For delivering certain I light materials, such as oat clippings, ground alfalfa and the like, agitators in the lower portions of the supply hoppers are necessary. These agitators may be applied in connection with all of the hoppers, if desired, but, as shown, they are applied only in connection with two hoppers, towit: diametrically opposite hop pers that. overlie the shaft 19, and consequently in connection with these .two last noted hoppers, the gates 13 are omitted andthe flanges at their outer ends, are

connected by a vertical web 5 that forms hopper chambers 33in communication with the corresponding feed passages 7. Workin in these hopper chambers 33 are short spiral agitators 3a mused to the inner tively, on the ends of short shatts-35 journaled in and extended through the webs 5. These agitators 342 are driven through sprocket chains 36 that run over sprockets 37 and 38, respecouter ends of the shafts l9 and35. q Here it may be noted that the spiral agitators 34 do not positively feed the material through .the feed passages I? but keep the material agitated and produce a light crowding pressure of the material toward saidleed passages 7 and into the pockets 22 of the rotating feed wheel.

The depth to which the pockets 22 of the feed wheel 21 will be filled will depend on the vertical adjustments. of the respective gates 9 and, hence, by adjustments of said gates, the machine can be set to feed the difl'erent materials in any desired propor tions. The pockets 22, of course, receive the material from the particular hopper as they move past the feed passages 7, and they willdrop such material through the first dis charge port 14, over which they sweep under I rotationof the feed wheel. Withthe arrangement described, it is evident that each pocket 22 of the feed wheel, under a complete rotation of the feed wheel, will, in

succession, be loaded with each or the several kinds of materials from the several hoppers and will successively drop each load through a feed port 14 on their way from one feed passage 7 to another. Thus, the

feed wheel is made a very efficient carrying device which, at all times, co-operates with all of the hoppers and, of course, the number of hoppers may be varied, at will.

The efiiciency of the device has been demonstrated in actual practice. It may be economically manufactured and set up as a complete self-contained structure at the factory and shipped as such, ready for use.

cesses in its outer periphery, a wheel journalled to said plate, means between said recesses delivering dilferent material laterally to said plate, and peripheral pockets in said wheel for conducting the material to said recesses.

3. In a, feeder of the class described, the

mean;

combination with a base having recesses in'its outer periphery, a wheel centrally journalled to said" plate, means between said recesses for delivering separately difi'erent material laterally. to said plate,- ineans for selectively regulating the supply to said plate, means .in said wheel for conducting the material-to said recesses, and means commingling the material as it issues from said recesses. V V a. In a feeder of the class described, the combination witha base plate having recesses in its outer periphery, a wheel journaled to said plate, a plurality of supply hoppers positioned between said recesses adapted to deliver difl'erentmaterial simultaneously and laterally to said feed plate, peripheral pockets said wheel arranged upon rotation of the wheel to conduct the material to said recesses, and means commingling-the material as it issues from said recesses. i V

5. In a feeder of the class described, the combination with a base plate havings'paced apart upstanding peripheral flanges and horizontal openings adjacent said flanges, a wheel centrally journalled to said plate, hoppers positioned between said flanges for delivering difi'erent material to said plate, means connected to each of said hoppers independently regulating the supply to said plate, peripheral pockets in said wheel for conducting the material to said recesses upon rotation thereof, and means commingling the material as it issues from saidrecesses. v 6. in a feeder of the class described, the combination with a base plate having spaced apart upstanding peripheral flanges and horizontal openings adjacent .said flanges, a 1

wheel centrally journaled to said plate, hop pers positioned between said flanges for delivering diiferent material to said plate, independently adjustable gates in said hoppers for controlling the supply to said plate, 1

peripheral pockets in said Wheel conducting the material to said recess uponrotation thereof, and means-in the bottom of said feeder for commingling the material as it issues from said recesses.

7. In a feeder of the class described, the combination with a base plate having spaced apart upstanding peripheral flanges and horizontal openings adjacent said flanges, a wheel centrally journaled to said plate, r20 hoppers positioned between said flanges for. delivering difierent material to said plate, agitators in certain of said hoppers forcing the material towards said plate, means in the periphery of'said wheel conducting the res material from said hoppers to said recesses, and means comrningling the material as it 7 issues from said recesses.

8. In a feeder of the class described, the combination with a base plate having spaced m aaeaeee said agitators from said shaft, means in each of said hoppers for independently varying the supply to said plate, and means comrningling the material as it issues from said recesses.

9. In a percentage feeder, the combination with a horizontal face platehaving circumferentially spaced discharge ports and a cylindrical upstanding rim with feed passages circumferentially spaced between the discharge ports of said face plate, a vertical shaft journaled' at the center of said face plate, a feed wheel secured to the upper end of said shaft and having peripheral pockets arranged to move over said face plate and the discharge portions thereof, a countershaft jonrnaled below said face geared to the lower end of sai vertical late and shaft, a collecting trough below said face plate, a spiral conveyor 1n the latter, means for rotating said countershaftand spiral conveyor, and hoppers secured in respect to said face plate and arranged to deliver into the pockets of said feed wheel through the feed passages of said cylindrical rim.

10. The structure defined in claim 9 in which said hoppers adjacent to the feed passages of said cylindrical rim arepro vided with independently adjustable gates.

11. The structure defined in claim 9 in further combination with rotary spiral conveyors working in certain of said hoppers outward of the feed passages of said cylindrical rim, and means for driving said agitators from said countershaft.

12. The structure defined in claim 10 in further combination with rotary spiral conveyors working in certain of said hoppers outward of the feed passages of said cylindrical rim, and means for driving said agitators from said countershaft,

In testimony whereof T afiix my signature.

ANGUS D. MaoLELLAN. 

